The Big Heat is a film with some of the most unlikeable characters, even the protagonist is hard to root for. The film begins with a cop's search for justice and truth but quickly spirals into a full-blown vengeance movie with an impressive body count. The Big Heat departs from the stereotypical film noir in that the protagonist himself could be considered the "femme-fatal," destroying the lives of literally every woman he comes in contact with in his search for justice (rather than the woman destroying the lives of those men she interacts with.) The film lacks any sentimentality, each character seeing their acts of violence as necessary and insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Even the protagonist sheds no tears as his wife is murdered with a car bomb and his new female friend, who helps him take down the mob and catch his wife's killer, is first disfigured facially and then shot numerous times. In the end, I was left feeling unfulfilled by the film's violent and message, rather than any of the characters evolving they remained untouched; completely apathetic to anything but themselves.
Review of The Big Heat
